


Debts

by LadyAbernathyWordsmith



Series: The Uchiha Chronicles [4]
Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, One Big Happy Family, Original Character(s), Revenge, Romance, post-cannon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-23
Updated: 2017-02-25
Packaged: 2018-07-14 19:05:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7186337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyAbernathyWordsmith/pseuds/LadyAbernathyWordsmith
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sasuke had once told him vengeance was hollow. It would lead a man to slaughter and destroy with the promise of peace, but leave only an empty shell of a human behind.</p><p>Seiji, for the longest time, thought he understood that. He thought he could resist the temptation. He would be kind to everyone he met, he would be sure to wipe away the stains of the past and replace them with a shining reflection of the present and future. If done wrong by others, he would turn the other cheek and continue on down the path of life.</p><p>But, that was before someone sought to hurt him for something that wasn't even his fault.</p><p>Seiji would get his revenge, his petty spite fueled him and he wouldn't fail like his father had. His vengeance wouldn't be swift and merciful. He'd remind his wrong-doers that they failed spectacularly, and everyone in the village would know that Uchiha's were above their sneering and contempt.</p><p>Today, he would punish the entire Hyuuga Clan, and would show the entire village what it meant to be an Uchiha.</p><p>Seiji smiled at his scarred reflection. Hanabi Hyuuga would lose her daughter today.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Sarada: 35  
> Shino: 5 (Dead)  
> Shizu: 21  
> Shina: 21  
> Suizen: 21  
> Suzu: 20  
> Seiji: 19  
> Sayaka: 19  
> Shou: 18  
> Suoh: 18  
> Sora: 18  
> Saizo: 18  
> Satoru: 9  
> Sanyu: 7
> 
> Okay, so I know this is kind of a strange format, but go with it.

Seiji woke that morning before his siblings, as he so often did. Staring up at the ceiling tiles of his bedroom, he found himself thinking back to memories he'd almost forgotten. 

It wasn't unexpected, however. Today he was fulfilling a most fitting punishment to the Hyuuga family. He was taking away one of Hanabi's children, and half of Konoha were to be in attendance. Even Lady Hinata and Nanadaime Hokage-sama would be there, and the Nara and the Aburame and a great deal of the Sarutobi family...

As of today, there would be one less Hyuuga in Konoha. Seiji smiled slightly, still looking up at the ceiling. How strange to think it all began at the ballet.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

When he was young, around six or seven, he had attended dances with his mother.

He'd always had a fascination with dancers and motion, though his older brother had always just said he had a fascination with the danc _er_ rather than the danc _ing_. He, at first, had denied it...

But, he did have to admit that he enjoyed the ballets considerably more when  _she_ was on stage.

For the longest time, he never knew her name. She wasn't a main player, since she had been around his age and thus far too young to take a starring role, but Seiji nevertheless found himself entirely entranced by her.

She moved lithely, even her minor slip-ups had a strange grace as she fought to regain balance, dressed in lilac leotards with a flouncing white skirt at her waist, he could see every line of her body, which was to say absolutely none at all. She was thin as a stick without a single curvature. Her hair was short, coloured indigo much like the Hokage's wife, Lady Hinata, and she also had those beautiful, moon white Hyuuga eyes.

After her every performance, Seiji often snuck away from his mother to buy and deliver what little gift he could to her anonymously, a small lotus flower whose white petals were tipped in a similar lilac as her leotard. (Lee-Sensei often said that Lotuses were the most pure form of flower-giving.)

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Seiji, facing his mirror, couldn't stop the small smile crawling up his face.  _That girl caused me a lot of trouble._ He thought, hand going to run against his cheek. The scars went right to left, like paint strokes across his flesh.

His right ear was all but gone, his eyes were mismatched, the right eye as white as snow and the other dark grey, hazy, unfocused and half-blind, and several long scars and knicks marred what had at one point been a handsome and youthful face.

It had been Hakusho Hyuuga, the first and only son of Hanabi Hyuuga, as well as the heir to his clan, who'd done this to him, all over a girl's heart. Seiji would be getting his vengeance for causing him such awful disfigurement, and he would be sure to enjoy every minute of it.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

He'd finally met the dancer after admiring her for so long. His sister Sayaka and he were in different classes, something about wanting them to branch out more, and everything was normal for the most part. (Except history class. He loathed history class, especially when it came to the war that had ended only a scant few decades ago.)

Sayaka had made a friend within the first week, and saw it fit to invite her over.

Seiji had been in the middle of stuffing his face with leftovers when Saya (loudly) announced that she was home, she brought a friend, and she hoped everyone was wearing their shirts. 

He had been standing in the kitchen, face stuffed with cold rice and curry and without a shirt on when his sister and her friend came in, apparently scouring for snacks.

"Damnit, Seiji!!" Sayaka nearly shrieked, hackles raised like an alley cat. "Can't you be a little more civilized?!"

"S'hot," He managed to say around his stuffed cheeks. "Mn sweaty n' gross."

"Damn right you're gross, Shannaro!!"

The dark haired boy heard a giggle over his sister's screaming, and had tilted his head to take a look at Sayaka's new friend. 

His throat almost immediately ran dry when he saw her. She wasn't in her leotard, of course, but she was unmistakable. As pale as the moon, with eyes to match, and hair more beautiful than any lotus flower he'd dared give her. 

He swallowed as quick as he could, almost choking as he did so.

"That's what you get for being disgusting!" His sister chided him as he stuffed the leftovers back into the fridge. 

"S'cuse me." He muttered, going straight for the door. 

He passed by her, and she was still smiling.

He spent the rest of that day holed up in his room, screaming into his pillow. He wasn't sure if it was out of utter humiliation, or if he was just insanely flustered over how adorable she was when she was smiling.

On stage, she never smiled. It had always been that serious, blank expression, focused only on her steps and the music that played. 

At the end of the day, he had decided that she looked even more radiant when she was happy.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Seiji sighed at the memory. He was in the baths before the rest of his family, as was often the case, and his nostalgia train hadn't yet been derailed.

It felt like lifetimes ago, and there was such immense regret, even as an adult, over how everything had transpired. Perhaps if he'd done something else, thing's wouldn't have turned out as they had. 

It was a useless thought, to dream of the past and what else could have been done, and there was no point in dwelling on it.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

What might've been months later, after first meeting her, after first meeting her in the kitchen, he'd finally learnt her name. 

She was Izayoi Hyuuga, daughter of Hanabi Hyuuga and second in line to succeed the family, should something ever happen to her older brothers; Hakusho.

Talking to her had been rough at first. She was a proper lady if he'd ever seen one, so unlike the woman in Seiji's family, who could be rash, stubborn, angry, argumentative and sarcastic to varying degrees.

She bowed, hid her smile and spoke only barely above a whisper. Why such a refined girl was hanging around the walking boombox that was Sayaka and the rest of the volatile Uchiha's, Seiji had never understood.

He did eventually find a way though, after almost two years of knowing her. She didn't much like talking herself, he'd found out, so he just did the enough talking for both of them.

Izayoi listened to him rambling, she nodded often, making little injections here and there, "I thought it was like this and that" she'd say, or "Actually, I read that they were like so-and-so, not like that and this".

Through their many talks, he found out quite a few things. The Hyuuga's were strict, demanding perfection on a level Seiji hadn't expected. Yayoi took extra classes besides her Academy training, with Hyuuga teachers that included tea ceremonies, dance lessons, music lessons and the obvious Byakugan training with her mother. They still were wary of the Uchiha, even after almost three whole decades after his father's return and the massive part he took in ending the Third Shinobi War. And Yayoi had been expressly forbidden from associating with them, and had accidentally befriended Sayaka (and thus Seiji) before realizing that they were Uchiha's, only realizing her mistake the day Sayaka had brought her over, and when she saw Seiji shirtless in the kitchen.

He didn't much like talking about his family's bad reputation, and Yayoi didn't enjoy talking about her tiresome classes, so instead he tried to talk about flowers and their medicinal purposes, about the construction of the house and all the little nooks and crannies that were hidden inside so as to make sneaking up impossible, and about the birds.

He liked talking about birds the most. She always smiled when he talked about the birds.

It had been one such day, almost a full month after his tenth birthday and a week before her eleventh, when he took her deep into the Raven Wood to see the birds his father kept.

"It's always been said that raven's were the original messenger bird." He said, tossing more bread onto the grass. His father kept and tended to a flock of ravens as a hobby, Mama said that they reminded him of Uncle Itachi. "They said that the God of Death would send them to collect souls from the dead, which is also why they eat corpses; so they can get to the souls."

"What a grim bird." She giggled, holding out a hand as one such raven hopped onto her.

"That's not all, watch." He said, smiling as he stepped a bit closer. "Hello," He said to the bird.

"Hello," The raven replied back, head tilting.

Izayoi burst into a fit of giggles, accidently startling the raven that had landed on her. The bird fluttered and hopped onto Seiji. "He talks!"

"He can do more." Said the boy, a wide grin on his face. "Would you like some bread, or some corn?"

"Corn!" The bird squawked, wings beating at the air like a petulant child throwing a tantrum. "Corn!" It repeated.

Seiji laughed, pulling a handful of corn out of his pocket and putting it into Izayoi's cupped hands. "Go on, he's gentle." 

The girl lifted her hands to the bird, who looked at her curiously for all of five seconds before he started pecking at the offered food. He was indeed very gentle, not pinching her hands with his beak. Soon, however, another bird came to have a taste, then another, and another.

Soon, Izayoi was head-to-toe covered with a layer of black birds, each of them wrestling for a chance at corn. 

He couldn't stop laughing, bent over himself on the grass as he tried to regain breath and sense as she called for him, asking for his help. 

He tossed the rest of the corn in his pocket onto the field, and the flock went to peck at the ground rather than Izayoi, who'd come out of it significantly more ruffled looking. He smiled at her, eyes still wet with tears of laughter. "I think you might be moulting." He said, plucking one of the black plumes from her indigo hair.

"And whose fault do you think that is?" She huffed, nose scrunched at him but far from being truly angry. "You knew that was going to happen, didn't you?"

"Possibly." He laughed again. 

"Jerk!" She lashed out, her knuckles connecting with his chest, pushing him off balance.

Seiji fell back, grinning up at Izayoi, who sat back down heavily, attempting to smooth down her ruffled hair.

"Here," He said, scooting a bit closer, his hands going to her head. "I'm sorry, let me help."

She did, allowing him get closer. His fingers threaded through her indigo hair, letting the feathers fall, dusting off her back which was covered in scraps of raven feather down. Her hair was presentable, her clothing mused but not obviously so. His eyes went to her face, where one raven had accidently scratched a thin line across her cheek in the rush to get at the corn.

"May I...? Ah, just stay still..." He said, his fingers gently going to her pale face. Her eyes closed, face burning a bit red with the closeness, as his hand glowed a faint green as he mended the slight scratch.

Both flinched when they heard the birds around them suddenly shriek and take flight. Seiji looked to the entrance of the bird rookery, which was in the middle of Raven's Wood, and spotted the pink-haired head of one of his little brothers, shouting that Seiji had a girlfriend.

 _Which_ one was the question, he had four identical ones! And he had no idea who else was in these woods right now!! He ran after him, red eyes tracking his blasted little brother.

Back and forth, they went, threading through the tree branches as the younger ran, laughing and shouting at the top of his lungs: "SEIJI WAS KISSING YAYOI-SAN!!" 

The older managed to tackle him, pinning him to the ground. But before he could threaten the little idiot to silence, another voice, virtually identical, called out again. "Papa!! Seiji has a Hyuuga girlfriend!!" 

No, damnit!! He did  _not_!! They were just friends!! Dammit, if this stupid lie got out, Yayoi would get in trouble for speaking to Uchiha's!! And if they thought they were actually  _dating_?!

He'd never see her again!!

But, it seemed that no matter how fast he tried to run, another freaking pink haired little brother would pop up, shouting the same drivel. He tied them to tree's, but one always got out and kept running. Saizo, Sora, Shao and Suoh were working together, trying to get this info to someone else. Little brothers were the worst!!

Finally, all four within sight, Suizen's patience ran out. With all the strength he could muster, he jumped up and above their heads, swinging down and aiming a nice, strong punch right in the center of all four. The ground cracked beneath them, unbalancing them as stone slabs rose up and forced all four into a single pile at the center, where Seiji got a hold on each one's shirt collar. 

"Seiji," A deeper voice spoke, causing all five brothers to freeze. UP above, on a tree branch, stood their father, looking down on them and the newly made crader. "I heard someone shouting for me from the house, what's going on?"

"N-Nothing, Papa!" Seiji said trying to sound calm, even as his hackles raised like a startled cat. "These idiots were just-"

"He was kissing Yayoi-san!!" Said one, even with his shirt firmly in the elder brother's hold. 

"He's dating the Hyuuga girl!!" Another chimed in.

"Sayaka's friend Yayo-chan, the quiet one!!" A third claimed.

"In the Rookery, where the birds are!!" The last intoned.

"LIARS!!" Seiji shouted, smacking the head of one, who was knocked into another and another like a desktop kinetic ball clacker.

Above, Sasuke smirked slightly as he breathed out an amused-sounding puff of air. "Is that so?"

"It's not!" Seiji said, face aflame with embarrassment. "It's just a misunderstanding, I'm not dating Yayoi-san!"

As he spoke, a one of the ravens flew from the trees and landed atop Seiji's head, which felt unbearably hot at the moment. "Corn!" It cawed at Sasuke, head tilting.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, as his second son froze beneath the raven. Why now, all of a sudden? Sasuke hopped down, and took the bird from the boy's black haired head. It had a message, tied around it's foot. Seiji reached for it, undoing it and reading the neat scrawl that was Yayoi's handwriting.

_They're going to say what they saw no matter what, little kids like repeating interesting things. We may as well make it true. Date?_

Date? Seiji read over that word again. Yayoi just asked him on a date. Yayoi, the dancer of his dreams, the girl with the sweetest smile and the kindest laughter, just asked him out on a date via carrier raven.

He looked up at his father. "I'm dating Yayoi Hyuuga." He said, almost shell-shocked by the simple sentence.

"You better hurry then," Smirked his father. "I doubt a girl like her is used to waiting for her suitors."

Right...He was right. Still ankle-deep in rubble, Seiji turned and ran back towards the rookery as fast as his feet could carry him, his four little brothers still silenced by his hit. When he was gone and out of earshot, the four began to sigh.

"Good job, boys." Sasuke couldn't help but laugh, commending his sons. "Keep match-making, alright? Maybe you'll find girlfriends and wives for each other one day."

"I want to marry Aiko-chan!" All four said in unison, before starting on each other, fighting and wrestling in the dirt over who got the right to marry Aiko.

That fight over Aiko had been the talk of the dinner table that night, Seiji recalled with a chuckle. His dating Yayoi hadn't even been mentioned at all. He remembered being so happy as he ate and watched his quadruplet brothers arguing over who would be the better husband for their beloved Hyuuga, while Seiji texted Yayoi under the table, making plans to see the new Akaharu no Akuma movie, some kind of docudrama about the Shinobi War that Yayoi was itching to see.


	2. Chapter 2

It had ended before it had ever really began.

Lady Hanabi had chosen someone else for Izayoi to marry, pressured to make the arrangement by the clan elders, and hadn't yet deigned to tell Izayoi herself until word reached of she and Seiji dating. _It had been decided before you were born._  Lady Hanabi had told her daughter firmly.  _We swore a promise to the Sarutobi and Aburame Clans, if my second child was a female, she would marry the Sarutobi heir. If you had been born male, you would've had an Aburame bride. It's...fate._

It had been the only time Izayoi had ever raised her voice to her mother, rage and fury rising with every passing second.

She spent a few days with Nanadaime and Lady Hinata after first being told, too close to a break down and never wanting to be seen as weak in the eyes of her family. Auntie Hinata knew, though. She understood fighting against fate.

Though she was officially disallowed to date Seiji, she was still allowed to be friends with Sayaka, and through Sayaka she saw Seiji. 

Hakusho, Izayoi's older brother, had followed her one day though, suspicious of how much time she was spending around the Uchiha's.

He saw how brazen Seiji was, offering her a place to stay should the Hyuuga house ever become too much for her. Too much?! She was a pampered little princess, she had little to nothing to worry about, even her future was garunteed!

Hakusho went to meet with the Sarutobi heir, a somewhat good friend of his who'd been in his class during the academy, telling him of Uchiha's lack of respect for their families and the deal made long ago.

Sarutobi Naoki was not pleased, not in the slightest. Young and emotaionally-stunted as he was, he'd been happy and excited at the prospect of an arranged marriage. He was rather plain, with no good people skills so to speak of, nor was he an outstanding shinobi, so it was a relief to know he didn't have to meet and mingle and ultimitely suffer dozens of failures with dozens of girls.

Jealousy burned in his heart, with fury and envy to match, though the fourteen year old wasn't quite able to put his emotions into words. Uchiha's were all disgustingly perfect; beautiful and strong and unfairly blessed, he proposed a way to put the traitors spawn in their place by knocking Seiji Uchiha down a peg or two.

They found some stray dogs from the forest, chained them up behind an old monument nobody visited anymore, and stole Seiji's coat from the academy.

Over the course of weeks, they fed the starving animals scraps of dried meat wrapped in Seiji's coat, the meat getting steadily and steadily fresher as the days wore on. They kept track of Seiji's training routine, including when he'd be alone in his family's training ground, the Raven Wood Forest, and snuck the dogs across Konoha, chaining them up again in a hidden part of the forest. 

He would get away, any shinobi worth their salt would naturally be able to clamber up a tree fast enough to escape some dogs, but they intended, at the very least, to scare the willfull little brat and possibly take a chunk out of his shin.

When it was over, the Hakusho would go to Hanabi and tattle on Izayoi, that she'd been seeing Seiji regardless of her orders.

The morning their plan was to take place, Hakusho went to the kitchen for breakfast and found one of the branch family members, a med-nin, with Izayoi in the yard.

"What happened?" He asked, sitting next to her.

"I think I twisted my ankle a little yesterday. I thought it was nothing but it started to hurt during the night." She said between winces and squeaks, as the med-nin's green glowing hands roved over her foot. 

"You'll need a brace," Said the med-nin, pulling away. "And to stay off it for a few days, if not weeks."

Hearing that instantly soured Hakusho's mood. Damn useless med-nin, any one of the older Uchiha's could've had her up and going within minutes! Why did they have an entire family of geniuses but the Hyuuga's were limited to one or two a generation?

"Be more careful next time." Hakusho said sharply, standing and going to find something to eat. "And be prepared to make up for all the time you're wasting."

Izayoi said nothing as her brother left, and the doctor went to fetch the brace she needed.

While she waited, her phone rang. It was Seiji!

**'It was a long night, but I think I'm getting it.'**

She smiled, falling to lay on the porch floor. Seiji had been working all night to learn his kekkei genkai, and earn the three tomtoe in his sharingan. Shizu and Shina, his oldest brother and second oldest sister, had been teaching him by night, using the moonlight and starlight to help him get used to dodging flying objects in near darkness.

After every nightly training session, they would spar until one of the twins decided it was enough, and going back to their house.

_'I'm glad. Are you well enough for lunch?'_

**'Yeah, of course. A shower and a nap, and I'm good to go. Meet at the usual?'**

_'11 at the rock?'_

**'Yep. see you there.'**

And so, she made her plans.

The hours ticked by, until Izayoi was limping on her crutches to the rock, a large stone that had a tree growing right through it.

Seiji was already there, and jumped up when he saw her coming. "What happened?" He asked upon seeing the brace.

"Accident," She said, with an embarassed smile. "It's nothing, really. Just a little sprain."

"I can take you to Mama, or Shizu-nii." He offered, "It'd only take an hour or so."

"Nah, maybe later." She shook her indigo head slightly. "Besides, I'm hungry. Let's go eat."

For a second, he looked about ready to insist...but, he smiled and relented, nodding slightly. "Alright, I was feeling like burgers and fries, you?"

"Dear god, you read my mind." She said, looking close to drooling as they started down the road. "I've been craving half the day."

He laughed, following her with his hands stuffed in his pockets.

A fair ways away, Naoki was hidden in the forest with the dogs at his heel. He and Hakusho hadn't fed them the past three days, and they were starving. A few whimpered, others were snapping and trying to bite the Sarutobi boy, who kept well away from their drool-lathered teeth. 

Hakusho was on stand-by, in a meeting with his mother with the other promenent figures of the house, ready to tell her when he had a moment alone, as Naoki loosed the dogs. He'd only seen Seiji entering the forest at noon, and hadn't realized that he'd spent most of the night in intensive training, moreover...he had no idea Izayoi was in the forrest with him, and injured.

...Minutes later, he heard screaming.


	3. Chapter 3

Naoki ran away the second the dogs were let loose, but stilled when he heard. Thoughts flew through his head, had there been someone else in there with him? A sister? For a heartbeat, he thought of going back to find out...

 _'They're a family of med-nin.'_ He thought suddenly.  _'We're just scaring them a little, it's nothing. It's nothing...'_

Naoki left, not looking back again.

In the forest, the dogs had ran, leaping over trees and rubble to find the source of their meal, following the familar scent that had wafted from all their previous meals. The first burst from the trees, and their face was cut for its efforts as Seiji Uchiha was caught off guard.

Izayoi took one surprized jolt back, putting all her weight on her sprained ankle. She screamed in agony as the bones shifted, and fell to her butt. One wild dog lunged at her, and he only managed to kick it away with her good foot as Seiji blew a stream of fire to keep them back. He was low on chakra though, he'd been working all night...

With them decently singed, He turned to grab hold of her, lifting her over his shoulder as he ran. He tried to stick to the bark of a tree with the dogs at his heels, but only managed to get traction for a moment, jumping off it to get her to a high enough branch. He hung on as best his sore arms could manage, Izayoi grabbing onto his shirt and arm, trying to pull him up with her as the starving animals bellow snarled and jumped, trying to bite at his ankles. His grip on the branch tightened as he felt his skin tear and bleed, fangs sinking into the meat of his legs as Izayoi shreiked for help and tried to keep a hold on her boyfriend.

There was a loud crack, and both looked at the branch, bending and bowing with the weight of both teenagers and the added pull of dogs tearing at Seiji's legs, with equal amounts of terror in their eyes. Izayoi looked at Seiji, tears in her moon white eyes, shaking her head furiously as she held on even tighter, she knew what he was going to do, she wouldn't allow it!!

He looked up at her, eyes turned red with the sharingan...though, in the split second between their eyes meeting and him letting go, she saw the three black swirls of tomoe turn into a swirling jagged shape, like lightening strikes making a triangle around his pupil. 

He let go, and she shreiked.


	4. Chapter 4

Hakusho and Lady Hanabi found out Izayoi was in the hospital at a lunch break, and Hakusho feared the worse. Had her ankle been worse than they'd thought? He'd heard of clots forming in a broken bone and making their way to the heart or brain, but...

The person carrying the message had clarified. A friend of hers had been in an unexpected dog-attack, and she'd been with him during it. He'd saved her, but he hadn't been so fortunate. She was by his bedside now, and was inconsolable.

Lady Hanabi cut the meeting short to go to her daughter, leaving Hakusho at home to explain her absense as a cold feeling worked it's way up his spine. 

Stone-faced, he didn't let it show as he went to the elders of the Hyuuga. 

She had a few injuries as well, her ankle was well and truly broken now, but Izayoi was more or less unharmed.

Seiji, however, was covered head to toe with bandages, and surrounded by his family. Lady Tsunade and a team of doctors had done their best to mend his bones and stitch together skin, to stop the bleeding of his internal organs, but it didn't look good...He'd been torn apart, and only his left eye was unbandaged.

Hanabi held her daughter tightly, consoling her as best she could. She wasn't going to chastize her for seeing Seiji without permission, especially not when the boy was at Deaths doorstep. Hanabi took her daughter to eat something, and allowed her to return to his bedside.

Both Hyuuga's stayed as long as they were able to, Hanabi staying only for her daughters sake as they waited and prayed that the boy would wake soon. Izayoi was caught in a perpetual hell as she waited, faithful and quiet, leaving only to go home in order to rest and eat.

Directly after the attack, the dogs were caught by a team of Chunin led by Shina, to prevent this from happening again to some other poor sap wandering the woods, but...she noticed that they seemed especially savage towards her and less so to everyone else. She had someone go to find some of Seiji's unwashed clothes, and the dogs reacted even more to that. She showed her father, and suggested that perhaps it had been a planned attack against Seiji, or possibly even the Uchiha.

He considered this, purposely avoiding bringing up the possibility to Sakura lest she unleash hell on the first person suspected, and brought it to Naruto. The Hokage looked ready to dismiss it as a fathers imagined concerns (it had to have just been bad luck and bad timing...) but when he saw how the dogs acted when faced with Seiji's clothes, he was convinced.

They employed an Inuzuka and her tracker dog to follow the scent trail of the wild dogs to wherever they came from, and she returned with a report. She found a place by the old K.I.A memorial that had been used to house the wild dogs, with ground scuff marks that suggested that a small wire cages had been removed from under the tree. The tracker also said that there was the faint and lingering scent of fresh meat and of two humans, which she followed all the way to the Hyuuga Compound, where she turned around in order to get a warrent to search the grounds.

Naruto signed the warrent for arrest without hesitation, and sent her on her way with three added jonin.

They presented the warrent to Hanabi, and she reluctantly allowed them to search the area. 

They found the old cages first, in a garbage shed in the far back where pickup would've come to take them away if they'd taken a day longer to investigate, and followed the human scent to Hanabi's own son, Hakusho. They arrested the Hyuuga Heir, and took him away. 

He shouted for her, telling her he didn't do anything wrong, begging for her help...But, she said nothing, looking down as he was taken away to be interrogated.

He clammed up for a good few hours, staying quiet unless demanding to speak to his mother. When a Yamanaka was brought in, he confessed, fearing for his Sarutobi friend and his reputation. "It was me," He told the dirty blonde shinobi, hoping to avoid the use of his Mind Transfer Jutsu. "I...He was dating my sister, I knew he was just going to use her, to get more Hyuuga's into that damn family of his. She's small, but she's of the main branch so her Byakugan is strong. I just wanted to scare him, really!"

"How?" Asked the Jonin. "You were at the meeting all day, there's witnesses."

He answered as quick as he could, making an excuse. "Shadow clone. I used a Kote and borrowed a scroll from someone else who knows the jutsu. It was me."

They stared at each other, the Hyuuga's gaze steady...The Jonin behind Hakusho reached for him, holding him down as the Yamanaka made his handsigns. 

"Stop, stop!! I confessed, it was me!!" He shouted, trying to struggle out the hold of two stronger, older ninja. It was futile, however, as he fell limp.

It was a short trip, and an arrest warrent for Naoki was signed as well. The entire village was in an uproar when word of both boys arrest made the papers, declaring that two of the distinquished heirs had no reason to attack the third son of the Uchiha.

When Izayoi heard, her numbed senses could only manage a twitch...Her brother, her brother's best friend, the man she'd been deigned to marry...

She went to the trial, speaking to three generations of Hokage and a council of the impartial, not in support of either her brother or his friend, but as a witness to the attack. She recounted how Seiji had saved her, and how her brother had constantly disapproved of her seeing  _any_ Uchiha, let alone dating one, and discribing the arranged marriage between her and Sarutobi Naoki, how she rejected it and wanted to be with Seiji.

Both boys were allowed to defend themselves.

Sarutobi said he'd wanted what was promised to him by the Hyuuga, but Uchiha had threatened his chance to marry and fall in love with a beautiful girl. He said he was sorry it had gone as far as it had, but wasn't sorry for what he'd done. He was still promised Izayoi to marry, regardless of how the trial turned out, and he hoped Izayoi would forgive him for his transgressions.

Hakusho said he hadn't wanted even more Hyuuga to fall into the hands of the Uchiha family, as Uzumaki Bolt (a second-generation Hyuuga and Byakuugan user) had married Sarada Uchiha and taken her name, and Hyuuga Mahiru had refused to date or marry, saying she was waiting for 'her' Uchiha to return from the ends of the earth. He said that he'd been protecting his family from unintentionally inhansing the strength of the Uchiha, and the Uchiha's were conspiring to make themselves stronger by marrying and breeding with the children of high clans, even stating that the four quadruplets had been seen fighting eachother for the hand of Inuzuka Aiko as well, and Sayaka Uchiha had only ever looked at the Akimichi heir for her romantic prospects, notoriously dogging the fat boy for affection and attention.

This defense, if it could even be called that, was heard and unanimously rejected. They were found guilty of attempt at grevious harm, and if Seiji should die, of unintentional manslaughter by a majority of the council. Punishment would be argued the following week, and both boys would be held in custody of the state until then.

Izayoi, before they were carried off in cuffs and chalkra-suppressant paper seals, went up to him. "Izayoi, I...I want you to stay away from them." He said, standing as tall as he could to face her. "For your own safety, as your older brother and the future leader of the Clan, the Uchiha shouldn't be-" He was cut short, as his little sister has slapped him across the face.

"Shut up...Shut up!! The Uchiha's have been kinder to me than you ever have! You and him!!" She pointed to Naoki. "If mother makes me marry that piece of scum, I'm not going to do it!! I'd rather die than marry that monster! I hope they give you both the worst possible punishment for what you did, you almost killed someone!! Someone I love and care about!! I'll never forgive you, either of you!!"

Hakusho was taken away before Izayoi could attempt a worse hit...

Izayoi went from the court house directly back to the hospital, passing her mother but never stopping to speak to her. Her mother, likewise, made no attempt to speak or console her daughter again.


	5. Chapter 5

Shizu was watching over his little brother when she arrived. The bandages over his face had been removed, to wash the wounds and check if they were healing properly. "You should wait outside," He said, purposely putting himself betwen the Hyuuga heiress and his brother, so she wouldn't see.

She sidestepped slightly, ignoring his suggestion to look at the ruins of a once comely and youthful face...The stitches ran right to left, angling downward farther left they went and leaving a portion of his upper left face intact, through he would likely be stuck with a rather angry-looking expression when he healed, as a part of his cheek had to be stitched back to cover part of his gaping wounds. His right eye, however, remained covered. "His eye...is he going to loose it?" She asked, taking her usual seat right beside him, at his right hand. 

Shizu looked down at his brother, frowning slightly. "...Yes, most likely. One eye is better than none, as it is."

She looked at Shizu, then back at Seiji, laying her head down so she could have her head as close to his chest as possible, praying silently that it kept beating, and praying that Seiji would still love her when (not 'if',  _when_. She refused to even entertain the idea he would die.) he woke. She was, essentially, the reason why he was injured...

She must've fell asleep, because when she looked up again, it was Lady Sakura and not Shizu looking over him, and Seiji was rebandaged so his scars were hidden under layers of gauze. She asked why she couldn't just...heal him. Surely She of all people had healed people on the brink of death during the war, right...?

Lady Sakura explained. Though healing his body would be easy enough, using their highest medical jutsu, the White Seal on their foreheads, would cause cell regeneration to amplify. It would heal him, yes, but it would also shorten his life significantly due to the massive damage his organs had taken. There was a time and place for such advanced techniques, on the battlefield was where the White Seal's use was needed. In a hospital, Seiji would heal slowly but it wouldn't halve his lifespan.

She asked about his eye, and she simply repeated what Shizu had said; He would likely lose use of it, but one eye was better than none. 

Sayaka came in, telling her mother that she was needed elsewhere in the hospital. She reluctantly left her son, and Sayaka stayed with Izayoi.

"How's he doing?" Asked Sayaka.

"You haven't beena round a lot." Izayoi replied, instead of answering her question. "Why? He's your brother."

The girl, black haired and black-eyed, looked down slightly. "I...I wanted to avoid seeing him...like this." She said quietly. "It's just...I hate seeing him like this at all. I don't have the stomach for...injuries." She said, going to sit across from Izayoi, on Seiji's direct left.

"Aren't you a med-nin in training?"

Sayaka shrugged. "Yeah, for kids and stuff. Pediatrician, birthing babies, not surguries."

Izayoi looked up her friend. "Then...go wash your hands, Sayaka-chan, and try not to vomit. I'm going to need you."

Sayaka was confused, need her? For what?

A moment later, she got her answer. Izayoi pulled her hair back, breathed deeply, and dug her fingers into her right eye socket.

Sakaya, alarmed, stood and went to her friend, screeching for her to stop or else she'd pop the damn thing out. Izayoi grit her teeth, and didn't listen. If Hakusho really thought Seiji had been trying to steal the Byakuugan, then the Uchiha's were welcome to it. She'd, at the very least, leave Seiji with a gift for all the troubles she'd caused him.

They were the same bloodtype, and the Byakuugan didn't need a close relation to be transferred like the Sharingan did. He could have her eye.

She tore the connections behind her eye, ignoring the screaming pain as Sayaka shouted for her brother out the door. She was a dancer, she'd rolled ankles and broken toes without a wince. She danced on blistered feet and snapped bones so often that she couldn't accurately remember how many times she'd been in a cast.

She held out her hand to Sayaka, looking at her friend with her newly-single eye, her right one closed. Sayaka, speechless, held the precious flesh in her hand. 

Izayoi went out of the hospital room, intent on finding a medic to heal her, holding a hand to her empty socket as Shizu came barrelling down the hall. "Izayoi! What happened?! I heard Sayaka and..." He trailed off, momentarily appalled when he saw blood sliding down her cheek, and the empty gape behind her eyelid. "Oh no...Oh dear, Izayoi, what did you do...?" He said, falling into a familar calm tone as he knelt, putting his hand to her face to dull the pain. She nodded gratefully, forcibly keeping back her tears, knowing they'd sting her eyesocket if she cried.

She passed out from the pain not long after.

Hanabi was called as soon as she was put on a cot, and Shizu went to retreieve the eye from Sakaya, only to find that she had done as Izayoi had wanted. She removed Seiji's own bloody and sightless eye and implanted the snow-white Hyuuga eye in Seiji's socket.

Hanabi was rightly pissed with Izayoi, but even moreso when she heard what she'd done with the eye.

However, as Izayoi was 14 and, by Konoha law, legally an adult, she could do what she wanted with whatever body parts she had. She affirmed again that she willingly gave Seiji her eye, and that she didn't want it back. If it was removed from Seiji, she would tear out her other eye and not accept transplants or replacement eyes, and allow her sockets to collapse.

Hanabi, with grit teeth and reluctance, didn't argue against her daughters wishes. To everyone's surprise, though, she didn't bother to disallow Izayoi from seeing Seiji afterwards. It seemed that she'd given up trying to stop her stubborn daughter, or maybe it had been guilt over how badly her actions had indirectly affected the young Uchiha.

Izayoi ignored the punishment hearing, staying with Seiji the entire day. She later heard from Shina that they hadn't agreed on any fitting punishment, between people defending Hakusho's right to defend what he percived as a threat to his family's most valuable asset and trying to decide if they should banish him and let Izayoi suceed as heir or keep him in the village and allow him to keep his birthright...And, it seemed like Lady Hanabi would willingly bow to the council no matter what was decided, and strip Hakusho of every birthright if they ordered it.

The hearing hadn't been conclusive, so they agreed to postpone another week.

"Is that all?" Asked Izayoi when she heard.

"No," Said Shina, who'd been there on behalf of Seiji, as her father would have swayed the opinions due to being...well...Sasuke Uchiha. "You mother...she said that she only organized and arranged marriage for you because the elders of your clan had demanded a high ranking match, and she denounced Sarutobi Naoki as unworthy of you and broke the engagement."

Izayoi's head shot up, ears perking slightly. "What? What did she...?"

"Officially, you are now a free agent. Date and marry as you please."


	6. Chapter 6

It felt strange...Sort of like floating...not in air, but...like mud, or maybe a fog.

A really, really thick fog.

He could hear doctors, vaguely. He could feel his limbs...vaguely. He drifted between barely waking and a deep sleep, though the change was barely perceptible at the beginning. Like trying to tell the difference between jet black and ashen black.

Slowly, though, one side began to lighten. Hearing snippets of conversation, feeling the warmth of someone's hand on his, the radiating heat of chakra sinking into his wounds...before the pain began to round it's ugly head again, and he fell back into the blackest depths of his mind.

There wasn't any pain when everything was black, serene but...scary. He couldn't think when everything went black, and thinking was important...Wasn't it?

Grey began to lighten, day after day, bringing that pain with it, bringing the ache and the stiffness and the feeling of his skin being too warm and too itchy and...

Black faded into grey, grey into white. When he opened his eyes, he saw the familiar and comforting sight of a busty blonde woman. He opened his mouth, trying to speak, catch her attention. He only managed a woosh of air, but it was enough to catch her eye.

Her dark hazel eyes went to his own, and her glossed-pink lips smiled. "Welcome back to the world of the living, Seiji." Said Lady Tsunade as she ran a hand through her god son's hair. "You've been out for almost a month, a dog attack..."

He tried to speak again, but his voice refused to work. He couldn't force any words...

"You've sustained a lot of damage, Seiji..." Tsunade said softly. "There's tremendous scarring, you'll have to start physiotherapy as soon as possible or else your skin will lose elasticity, a portion of your intestines had to be removed, there's some metal inserts in your right shoulder, you're missing your ring and pinkie finger on your right hand, your thumb on your left, and...When the dogs latched onto your throat, by some miracle they didn't get to your jugular or corroded artery, but did manage to damage your vocal cords.”

His…? He was mute then, but he didn’t stop regardless. He mouthed her name, trying to get her to tell him about Izayoi. He kept mouthing it, though there was no sound to it. _Izayoi, where’s Izayoi?_

The door opened, and in came a young woman, with indigo hair and an eye as white as the full moon. “Lady Tsunade, would it be alright if I sat in on y-“ Her quiet request was cut short, realizing that the boy on the bed was awake and, somewhat, aware. “Seiji-kun!!”

Izayoi ran, about to try and jump on her boyfriend. Tsunade grabbed a hold of her t-shirt before she got close though, and put a hand on Seiji’s chest when he had started to try get up, keeping the love-birds firmly apart. “Not happening, not on my watch!”

The girl struggled despite the former Hokage’s strong hold, trying to grab the mangled fingers of the Uchiha boy as the door burst open, a nurse coming in to take Izayoi and forcing her to take a step or so away from Tsunade and Seiji.

“Calm your asses, both of you! His ribs just started to heal and he hasn’t moved an inch in a month! Are all kids so hormonal?!” She hissed, her brown eyes sparked with fury. “Go! Go phone and tell the rest of his family if you wanna be helpful!”

Izayoi swallowed slightly, looking to Seiji on the bed. “I-I’ll be back!” She promised as she stopped resisting the nurse that had a hold on her, turning to leave. “Please stay awake, Seiji! I’ll be as fast as I can!”

Seiji fell limp under Tsunade’s firm hold, chest aching. Everything hurt, it was remarkable how much everything hurt, his skin his bones, his head…but he couldn’t bring himself to care despite that. Izayoi was okay, she was still here. With a feeble and atrophied hand, he reached up to touch his chest, trying to calm himself. Even through the hospital shirt and bandages, he could feel his heart beat thumping hard, excitement and gratitude making him dizzy and wheezy at the same time.

He felt close to passing out again, but forced himself to stay conscious as Grandma Tsunade kept her healing hands on him, accessing his physical state.

He tried to talk to her though sign language, as all Shinobi had to learn some form of it to use during missions that needed secrecy, but after a month of not moving, after the nerve damage done to his arm, and the lack of certain fingers, it was a hard-time going to try and make the proper signs.

He did manage to get some answers, about the dog attack, and what had happened afterwards (Shina and Sayaka had heard the screaming and ran, Shina chasing away the dogs and grabbing Seiji while Sayaka made sure Izayoi was alright, before taking her to the hospital with Sasuke).

When he asked about her eye…

“You needed one. She donated.”

What?

“It’s best you see now, so you don’t freak out later,” She concluded, standing and scrounging in the bed-side drawer for a moment, pulling a hand-held mirror and showing him.

His eyes…mis-matched, one black and one white. His breath almost stuttered to a stop, reaching up to cover the transplanted eye. He’d been so shocked by it, he hadn’t even registered the fact that the rest of his face, from the nose down, was covered in gauze. Even part of his head had been shaved, leaving his hair patchy.

He listened to the rest, his shock rendering him numb, even as he learnt of Hakusho and Naoki’s…plot. Izayoi’s brother? He’d never met him, but heard plenty about him from Izayoi, and even Shina and Shizu, who’d been in the same year as him. They’d called him an asshole, Izayoi said he was hard-working and dedicated, heart and soul, to the clan.

He had, apparently, thought Seiji would be a detriment to the Hyuuga.

Numbness turned to ice, his heart squeezing even at the thought. He hadn’t used her, Izayoi had…he’d had eyes only for Izayoi since he first saw her on stage, so long ago…

A council had already found both Naoki and Hakusho guilty, and were just waiting on an agreed punishment.

By the time Lady Tsunade got all this out, his family had started to arrive. Sakura and Sasuke being the first among them, followed shortly by Satoru and and Suzu, and others left outside of the small hospital room.

“We can be cripples together now.” Said Suzu, sitting beside her brother. “Since I’m blind and you’re mute, we can sit and say nothing to each other ever again.”

He couldn’t stop the smile that crept up on his face, grabbing her hand and writing on her palm. _I’m going to keep finding ways, idiot._

“Damnit,” Suzu sighed, head tilting slightly.

“It’s a relief to see you awake again.” Sasuke said, with Sanyu in his arms. “I’m certain you’ll be back on your feet in a few weeks.”

“Darling!” Scolded Sakura. “Seiji-chan needs to rest first and foremost. As his mother and a doctor, it’s inadvisable to even have him moving around his arm so willy-nilly like he has been!”

“I’ve never waited to move around when I got injured.” Sasuke mentioned idly.

“And that’s why you’re such a creaky coot now.” She retorted dryly. “How many times have you complained about your arm aching in the last week?”

Sasuke said nothing for a moment, before he answered. “…A lot.”

“That’s exactly why.” She hummed, certain. “So, Seiji. Try to keep still until the physiotherapist comes, alright? Or else you’re going to end up like your father.”

If he’d been able to, Seiji would’ve laughed.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

His father stayed later than the others had, helpfully filling him in on the quick investigation and the ongoing punishment hearing. 

He kept his eyes downward, his breath making the barest whisper of sound as Sasuke went through a list of punishments that the council had been considering. Disinheriting them, prison time, exile...

"Since you were the victim, I think they'd consider what you want as well, if you choose to make an opinion." Sasuke said to his son.

Disinheriting them made Izayoi the defacto heir, something she'd adamantly hated and wanted no part in. Prison time would render the Hyuuga heir a social pariah, since all Konoha prisoners would be scarred to remind everone of their crimes. Exile...

Hakusho would become an enemy of the Uchiha. He was young but...doubtless, there were still people in the world who'd gladly join up if it meant causing harm to them, or trying to gain the sharingan. Rouges or kage or bandits...

He made a snap decision, writing on a pad to his father.  _"I want them punished, permanently. I want them to pay for what they did, to me and to Izayoi. I want to be at the next hearing."_

Sasuke nodded. "Alright, Seiji. Just...be careful, alright?" He said, putting a gentle hand on his sons head. "Don't let this consume you, don't punish all the Hyuuga for one idiot."

He nodded. Sasuke left to tell the council, and he tore a new page from the pad, as evenly as his incomplete-hand was able to, and began to write. His punishment wouldn't be kind or just, for anybody.

He wondered if he'd ever come to regret this decision, and hoped Izayoi would forgive him.


	7. Chapter 7

Suizen's first ride out of the hospital had been a special kind of hell. After the stale and sterilized air of his hospital room, barely being able to move due to bedsores and the ache of his back when he finally, finally managed to stand on his own...He felt like he'd aged thirty years in an instant.

The morning came with sunlight and warmth. Summer haze and heat had never felt so good as it did after a month-long coma, though you would have to take Seiji's word for it.

He went home a week after coming out of the coma, and was forced to stay in the sickroom of the Uchiha Mansion because, though he  _was_ getting stronger, he still hadn't yet conquered stairs, and couldn't get up to his own room and down again.

So, in a large and empty room, with a wall of closets on one side that held either spare futons or medical supplies and a sliding door that led out to the porch and garden, he sat. Izayoi had come to visit most every day after her own missions and genin duties, and went for a little walk with Seiji for exercise. She held his thin, cold hand in hers and helped him onto his feet and out to the garden or to the pier, where they sat and had lunch on the porch every afternoon.

His face had lost a good chunk of expression, his hair was uneven but long in parts, and he was only skin and bones, weighing in at 97-and change when before he'd been a healthy and muscular 147.

She had gotten a temporary false eye to replace the one she'd lost, so the socket wouldn't collapse, though it was completely white without the light-grey lines of an ordinary Hyuuga eye, like a marble instead of a real replacement. She had been mulling around ideas, saying that the artist who made them could make any pattern she asked for.

 **"Black?"** Seiji suggested, through his slightly slower sign language.  **"Make it look like we swapped eyes."**

She smiled, and laughed. "That seems like such a waste though. I could have an eye that looks like the sharingan!"

He bent over in silent laugher, the gaps in his teeth making a slight whistling sound due to the air passing through. He would have to have some new teeth put in soon, to replace what had been lost when he'd clenched his teeth so hard, they cracked or became misaligned.

"You should keep that." Izayoi said, once Seiji had straightened himself. "The whistle. Maybe it'll be your new way of communicating."

He considered it for a moment, before putting his tongue to one gap, and blew a high two toned whistle.

"Is that your yes?" Asked Izayoi with a thin smile.

He repeated the high whistle, and smiled his new, fairly crooked smile, which almost looked like a grimace on his scarred face.

Izayoi was consistently by Seiji's side, even as the final date drew ever nearer. The council would hear of the Uchiha boy's wishes for Naoki and Hakusho, and would take that into consideration. Considering how deadlocked they were for the choice, whatever Seiji decided for punishment would probably be the deciding vote.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

He'd written and rewritten and thrown away so many attempts at his final verdict, trying to decide if it was right, if he could live with himself for doing this.

Even as he stood before the council, in a courtroom with Naoki and Hakusho in cuffs on one side, and his parents with his wheelchair on the other, he was unsure. He was skin and bones and in dressed in his yakuta, the only formal piece of clothing he had that didn't make every scar feel irritated.

He, with his written letter in hand, bowed and offered it to Nanadaime Hokage.

Naruto took it, a sad look in his bright blue eyes. He could see the struggle written on his godsons face, the wheeze in his breath made silent by his injuries, the slow, creaky way he moved, the strength he had to use to try and bow and stand without trembling like a leaf in the wind. 

Naruto had stepped down from the council that was judging Hakusho and Naoki, as had Kakashi and Tsunade, though Kakashi had resisted slighty to the suggestion. That left only a few elders and some clan heads to decide. He opened up the letter, and read through it.

The look in his eyes lightened, looking up briefly at the now-mute Uchiha. "Are you sure? There's no coming back from this."

Seiji paused, swallowing tightly. No, he wasn't sure, but it was  _right_. He nodded, looking up at Naruto with his mis-matched eyes.

Naruto breathed a deep sigh, and smiled softly, reading the letter outloud.

_"I, Uchiha Seiji, had been wrongfully accused of attempting to steal away Hyuuga Izayoi, the presumed bride of Sarutobi Naoki and younger sister of Hyuuga Hakusho, in order to add strength to the Uchiha Clan. Know that this is false, and allegation made up by a jealous and paranoid older brother. This belief led to my mauling, and the loss of an eye that Izayoi, willfully and of her own choice, replaced with one of her own. I want them to live knowing that they failed. That not only do I possess the power of the Hyuuga, and more importantly that I am happy and in love with the girl they'd tried so hard to protect from imagined threats._

_As such, I couldn't think of any better punishment for either Sarutobi or Hyuuga._

_I want them to continue life as they had been, knowing they failed. Her marriage pact is broken, and now she is free to wed whomever she pleases. I hope that one day, she will choose me._

_I want her brother at her wedding, where I hope that I will be the alter, waiting for her. I want Sarutobi to marry someone, knowing that it isn't Izayoi._

_I want them to stay in Konoha, and be forever witness to their failure. To inherit their rights as their families see fit, and to see their beloved princess happy with someone else._

_I, by no means forgive them, I would gladly see them exiled for what they did to Izayoi, but sending them off would just cause her all the more agony and pain. Let her brother take up the Hyuuga Clan Head, so that she can live her own life without that burden. Let Sarutobi live, so that the Hyuuga and Uchiha don't incur their wrath for generations._

_If the council were to agree, I would like to see them released without charge, or if a charge needs to be set, then to pay the fees for my hospital stay and for any wedding I or Izayoi may have in the future."_

"You would have them freed?" The Aburame Head said softly, looking down at the young Uchiha.

Seiji nodded again, looking up at the council.

Sasuke stepped forward, putting a strong hand on his son's shoulder. The son looked up at his father, and mouthed his words. Reading his lips, Sasuke spoke on his behalf. "I, just as easily, could have taken away their inheritances and exiled them or sent them to prison, I instead choose to indebt them to me as long as they live. I am a petty and greedy person, and though this may be unfair to those who would rather see these two punished, I firmly believe that living in my debt and still having what they tried to take away, and even gained a power I didn't want in the first place, is punishment enough."

Naruto breathed out a deep sigh as a murmuring ripple echoed across the council, as the two former friend Hakusho and Naoki looked to each other, incredulous and disbelieving, and he smiled slightly. Petty indeed...But, better petty than murderous or angry.

Slowly, they came to a consensus. "Sarutobi and Hyuuga, you are hereby free to go." The gavel slammed down by the elder's hand. "We hereby order you pay restitution as requested by Uchiha Seiji, for all the requests he made here, now or in the future."

From across the floor, Seiji signed to Hakusho. **"You'd better hope we marry each other, cause I'm gonna run your wallet dry."** He stuck out his tongue slightly, with a self-satisfied half-smile on his scarred face as Hakusho was pulled away to be processed and released proper.

True to his predictions, Izayoi had been furious with him. She was angry with her brother, and refused to talk to him for weeks and months afterwards, and the entire incident sparked something of a rebellious streak in her, throughout which Seiji dutifully following behind, reigning her in when she was getting too far off the beaten path. (Suggesting they desert Konoha was a mistake Seiji was not willing to repeat, even if Izayoi had suggested it a thousand times before she eventually gave up.)

Eventually, when they were around 20 years old, she did calm down. Her childhood boyfriend became her first and only serious boyfriend, and by age 25 they were engaged,and a mere year later...

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Seiji stood infront of the mirror, attempting to fiddle his tie and collar into a proper appearance. Behind him, there was a knock.

"I know you can't talk so I'm coming in anyway." A drawl voice called, the door knob turning as they entered.

Seiji turned, looking at his intruder. Hakusho had gotten remarkably taller, having to even bow his head slightly to get into the bathroom. "What's going on? You're not getting cold feet are you?" He asked, reaching for the Uchiha's tie and collar, helping him cover the majority of the sun-shaped scars where dogs teeth had bitten in. "Because if you are, I'm gonna throttle you."

The Uchiha let him, his far-more dexterous fingers tying and fitting his collar and tie into place. He signed to him.  **"Don't be stupid. I was just lost in thought is all, thinking about how I met Izayoi and all."**

"Why my sister wants to marry an airhead bastard like you I'll never know." Hakusho sighed, shaking his head. "Come on then, everyone's waiting."

Seiji smiled, his missing teeth having long-since been replaced with sharpened titanium implants on Sakaya's enthusiastic suggestion and his parent's wary acceptance. He could tear flesh from bone with them like a...well, like a dog. Ironic considering what had cause him to start missing teeth. (It make eating steak entertaining, and electrifying bites with the Chidori always elicited a terrified reaction by his enemies.)

He and Hakusho made their way down, to where his sisters were putting the final touches in the yard, the isles and chairs and ribbons and such for the dinner after the ceremony. "You guys really weren't kidding about draining my damn wallet dry." Sighed Hakusho as he picked up a clipboard from a near-by chair where he'd left it. "I mean, seriously? Salmon from Waves, Silk from Clouds and you even made me pay for repairs to your damn Naka Shrine for the ceremony!"

Seiji's serene smile was still there as his brother-in-law-to-be kept rattling off all the expenses he was paying for. He signed to him.  **"You had all the time in the world to start saving up, this is your fault."**

The Hyuuga heir sighed, pulling at his hair slightly. "Yeah, yeah. At the very least this is the last bit of my official debt to you. My sister and all of my savings, are you happy now?"

**"Izayoi isn't payment, she's my best friend. I want only the best for her."**

Hakusho shook his head slightly. "I can at least take solace in that."

 **"That you can."** Seiji signed, his glinting grey fangs on full display.  **"What time is it? I'm ready to be a married man."**

"Give it an hour, lover boy." Sayaka sang, bumping into her taller brother's shoulder. "You woke up too damn early. I thought I gave you enough sake to knock you out until noon."

**"Don't underestimate the power of a man in love."**

"And the healing skills of an older brother." Chimed in Shizu in passing. "He was crying and hung over two hours ago. You went too far Sayaka."

"He'd be bouncing off the walls if I hadn't, Shannaro!" Sayaka huffed, sticking her tongue out at her brother childishly.

"Better bouncing than crying that he want's his 'Honey Baby'." Countered the older Uchiha.

"Honey Baby?" Hakusho asked, only just barely stifling a laugh as he looked to Seiji. "Then what the hell does she call you?"

The mute man began to quick walk away, his face gone bright pink.

"That's easy!" Declared Sayaka, rather loudly. "She calls him-Mmph!!"

Seiji had dashed back, and grabbed his sister, slapping a hand over her mouth.

"Sugar Bear." Answered Shizu with a deep laugh.

"Honey Baby and Sugar Bear, I'm never letting that one go." Hakusho said, a hand on his face as he laughed along with Shizu, grabbing Seiji from Sayaka, lifting him to his feet. "Come on then, you dork. You said you wanted to be married so let's go get you married." The Hyuuga chuckled, almost dragging Seiji as he covered his face in apparent shame and embarrassment.

And so, that day, The Hyuuga lost their latest princess yet again.

Even though Naoki had denied their request to see them married, he had been forced to pay half of what they spent on. For Seiji, he felt like it was a very clean victory.

He, quite simply, won.

(Even if all their combined siblings felt the need to constantly call them by the nicknames they made up when they'd been drunk off their asses at 17. 'Sugar Bear' and 'Honey Baby' would not be forgotten for a long...long... _long_ time.)


End file.
